Another woman comes forward as a victim of drink spiking in Salisbury

Another woman has reached out to Love Salisbury to tell her story regarding a reported spiking incident in Salisbury.

Last week a local mother voiced her concerns for women’s safety after her daughter ended up in hospital when she was reportedly spiked while out in the city earlier this month.

Today, another woman, who does not wish to be named, came forward to say she believes she was spiked while out with friends for a few drinks on the 29th of January 2022.

“I only recall two hours of the night and ended up in hospital with no recollection for 7 hours.

“I was severely poorly, I have no recollection of going to the hospital in the ambulance. I woke up in the hospital and the doctor told me they think I have been drugged,” she explained.

The next morning she says that her friends helped her piece together what had happened.

“I was dancing and then all of a sudden, within half an hour, I went downhill. I was crying but I couldn’t actually talk to my friends about what was wrong, it was like I had locked-in syndrome where you can’t speak about anything.

“My friend said she had never seen me like that before. She described it like I had no bones in my body. They had to put me in the recovery position because I was being violently sick and that’s when they called the paramedics. I had the same amount to drink as them so they quickly knew something wasn’t right.

“The police were called and they came out to see me the next day. The venue manager gave evidence and there was an older couple who said they had been watching us and knew we weren’t recklessly drinking. They saw how quickly I went downhill and they said they think I was spiked."

Since the incident, the woman has experienced anxiety attacks about what she went through.

“I had panic attacks for the first week after, I didn’t want to speak about it at all. My vision was blurred for days, I didn’t feel right, I had awful headaches.

“When I heard another girl had recently been spiked that is when I started to feel angry about it. I didn’t feel upset about it anymore, I just felt angry. How are these people getting away with this?”

The victim hopes that by speaking out about her experiences, other women will be encouraged to come forward.

“I hope by coming forward it will encourage other girls to speak out about it be more aware, not that we should have to be more aware and worry about these things, but at the moment where incidents are higher, people need to know.

“Unfortunately, with spiking, there is such a victim-blaming culture around it still. People say ‘oh it is probably just the drink’, ‘they have had too many drinks’ - this kind of blame culture. But I knew it wasn’t right, the friends that I was with on the night knew it wasn’t right, the paramedics and the doctors said they feel like I had been spiked.”

Her takeaway message for anyone enjoying a night out at the moment would be “lookout for your friends”.

“Be very aware of your friends. I was so lucky that I had my friends around me. What scared me is what is it going to take for people to start taking this really seriously?

“The unthinkable could happen and if my friends weren’t there, it could have happened. You have just got to look out for each other.”

If somebody believes they have been a victim of spiking or any sexual offence and they believe they are in immediate danger they should call 999. If anybody thinks this has happened to them before but they are in a position where they are safe and not in danger they should ring 101 to speak to the police.

You can find more information about drink spiking on the Wiltshire Police website.